Around the state: Broward’s superintendent reminds students that making false threats, jokingly or otherwise, can “change the trajectory for the rest of their life,” Wall Street Journal rankings downgrade Florida colleges and universities, a national anti-censorship group warns Brevard’s school board that its decision to ban a book that doesn’t break state law could be a violation of the First Amendment, schools continue to report problems with air-conditioning systems and three students in one district are taken to a hospital for treatment, and a far-right group delivers inflammatory pamphlets to Polk schools. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade, south Florida: Nine district schools have installed vaping sensors in bathrooms, and Broward school officials said they are considering similar measures. First-time offenders are given a warning, but repeated violations can lead to suspensions. WFOR. The high cost of living in south Florida remains the biggest concern of teachers, according to an annual survey. WTVJ.
Broward: After the fatal shooting at a Georgia high school last week sparked a flood of school shooting threats around the state, Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn held a news conference to warn district students that making the threats are not a joke and could lead to long-term consequences. “It’s a crime when you make a threat to our schools. It is definitely not a joke,” he said. He urged parents to have “very serious conversations with your children and understand the gravity of these issues when they make a threat to our schools. It can change their trajectory for the rest of their life.” Sun Sentinel. WSVN.
Orange: Three Ocoee Middle School students were taken to a hospital Monday morning for treatment after the school’s air-conditioning broke down around 7 a.m. A district spokesman said maintenance employees were able to get one of the chillers back up. Students were moved into areas that were cooler and were given additional water breaks. WFTV. WOFL. WKMG.
Duval: A class of 22 local teenagers and young adults are the first class to graduate from the city’s Jax Code 4 Change initiative, which offers coding experience to tap “the potential of underrepresented tech talent” in the city. The students, ranging in age from 16 to 21, worked with the city’s IT department and a private company. Their class project was the creation of a city service dashboard showing a real-time overview of issues, requests for service and other performance indicators. Jacksonville Today. WTLV. Michael McNair, an assistant principal at Ribault High School in Jacksonville since 2018, has died. His brother made the announcement of his death, but did not include a cause. WJXT.
Polk: About 45,000 pamphlets produced by an organization labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “hate group” were recently delivered to the Lake Wales Charter Schools and Polk public schools to potentially be distributed to students. The pamphlets are the work of the far-right Liberty Counsel, and contain provocative political statements. They reportedly won’t be distributed in traditional public schools. Lake Wales News.
Pasco: A week after a lightning strike knocked out the air-conditioning system at Oakstead Elementary School in Land ‘O Lakes, the school is still awaiting delivery of the needed part. “We are running the air 24 hours a day to assist with keeping the building cool and have provided fans as well. Students are being kept inside for recess and PE so they do not get hot,” school leaders said in a statement to parents. WFLA.
Brevard: A national anti-censorship nonprofit group has warned the school board that its Aug. 27 decision to overrule a book committee recommendation and ban a Japanese LGBTQ graphic novel that does not break a state law could be a violation of the First Amendment. Board chair Megan Wright said at that meeting that because Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 1 “focuses on nothing other than a relationship, it’s inappropriate.” She also said she didn’t like that the book is written “backwards,” read from right to left and back to front. “Overturning the review committee’s recommendation … opens the board to claims that the books were removed based on the viewpoints they express, in violation of the First Amendment,” the National Coalition Against Censorship wrote in a letter to the board. Florida Today.
Leon: School board members will vote tonight on a proposed $662 million budget, which is $4 million less than last year’s because of a decline of 2,578 in enrollment. Tallahassee Democrat. Two people, one with a stun gun, were arrested Monday morning when they tried to enter Leon High School in Tallahassee. They were students from another school, according to district spokesman Chris Petley, and they’ve been charged with trespassing on school property and possession of a dangerous weapon. Tallahassee Democrat. WCTV.
Okaloosa: After 53 years of using the Niceville High School stadium for its home football games, the Lewis School in Valparaiso now has its own stadium. It was part of a capital improvement project, and the first game was last Friday night. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Martin: A 14-year-old junior varsity football player at Jensen Beach High School has been arrested and accused of stabbing a teammate after practice Monday. The victim, also 14, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to deputies. WPTV. WPEC.
Flagler: Leasing the old county courthouse is giving the school district more space to consolidate programs, as projected when the school board approved the deal last month. But the initial costs are already higher than expected, and do not include the proposed $650,000 needed to renovate the building, the 4 percent rent increase ever year, and janitorial, groundskeeping and trash pick-up costs. Flagler Live.
Gulf: Multiple high school football teams in the Florida Panhandle will attend a luncheon today to honor the life of Port St. Joe senior football player Chance Gainer, who collapsed on the field during the school’s game against Liberty County High and later died at a hospital. “This is a chance for young people to get together, to mix and mingle, and take the edge off football a little bit for us,” said Gulf Superintendent Jim Norton. “You can smile, support each other or shed a tear, and that’s okay …. The (Gainer) family will be there; our community has wrapped them in love.” All Gulf schools are closed today. Tallahassee Democrat. WJHG.
Colleges and universities: Florida’s universities tumbled in the latest rankings of America’s schools of higher education by the Wall Street Journal. The University of Florida fell from 1st last year to 34th among the nation’s public universities, and among all schools declined from 15th to 83rd. Florida International dropped from 29th to 77th, Florida State went from 102nd to 199th, and the University of Miami fell from 70th to 231st. Schools were rated on how well they set graduates up for financial success. Miami New Times. Wall Street Journal. Mainstreet Daily News. Indian River State College trustees have approved a raise and bonus for President Timothy Moore after giving him a strong evaluation. Moore’s pay goes from $456,225 to $470,368, a 3 percent raise, and he also receives a $91,245 bonus. TCPalm. Florida A&M University business dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud is stepping down to return to teaching, and Ira Bates will replace her on an interim basis. Tallahassee Democrat.
Opinions on schools: The K-12 system isn’t just broken. Rather, it is broken on purpose, and teachers have been hugely shortchanged in the process. Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. Florida policymakers could help our state schools “raise their game” on protecting free speech and academic freedom on campuses by tying future performance funding to the results of the Board of Governors’ annual surveys. William Mattox, Florida Politics. Amendments are necessary to streamline the state’s book challenge process and ease existing tensions. One would allow parents to “red list” books for their children only, and another would be to ensure that an adequate number of trained media specialists are employed for each public school to handle the workload of vetting books. Natasha Agarwal, Naples Daily News.
